A Gift Given
by Blade of Justice
Summary: On the day before Gohan and Videl's wedding, the great Hercule calls his future son-in-law over to talk to him alone and give him a wedding present. But just what is the champ thinking here? Is this a setup?


Hercule Satan was a man known far and wide for his impressive strength. He was a man who was known by virtually every person on the planet for being the man who had used this impressive strength to fight off evil and save the world on numerous occasions. His strength was unparalleled, without equal, and everyone knew it.

Yet today, Hercule, the savior of the world, found himself feeling incredibly weak. And for once it wasn't because of the presence of the ever powerful "truth" that denied the years of falsehoods he had built his life around.

He had had his reasons for keeping the "truth" hidden. Some selfish. He would be lying if he said he didn't love the fame and glory. On the other hand, if you had been a single parent whose only form of income was breaking bricks and moving buses, wouldn't you have jumped at the chance to be able to give your baby girl everything she would ever want? If you had seen the horrors that that monster had unleashed, the ways those supermen had fought, wouldn't you want to try to preserve the sanity of the world, to protect the ignorance that kept people safe, even if it meant living a lie?

He had certainly had at least some good intentions at the time. He was sure he had. Before he had been infected by all that fame and fortune at least. He wondered if that mattered now. He wondered if it ever did.

He was still the same weak man who faked stomachaches he had always been, deep down.

However, today his weakness came from a much simpler source, and it was one that really did make his stomach twist and turn uncomfortably. Ironic, given how often he claimed to suffer from stomach pain when he was actually suffering from an acute case of fear, but understandable.

For today was the day before his only daughter's wedding, and he was waiting in his favorite room for his son-in-law to be to arrive.

To say that he and the young man had a complicated relationship... would be an understatement, to say the least. At least Hercule felt it was. He couldn't quite be sure how the boy felt about him, and that was one reason why he had asked him over this afternoon. He truly wanted to know.

The other reason, though, was much more important.

Hercule had a special wedding gift to give the boy.

No, that wasn't right. "The boy" wasn't what you called someone who was about to enter your family. "The boy" wasn't what you called someone who brought the light back to his daughter's eyes tenfold, light Hercule had thought had been lost forever upon his late wife's death.

"The boy" wasn't what you called someone who had done everything you had become famous for.

"The boy" had a name. Gohan.

"Gohan..." Hercule tested it out to himself, as though he was just saying it for the first time. Maybe he was, at least genuinely. Most other times he was either talking to Videl about him or even to the boy, the young man himself, and for some reason, the name just never came up.

It was strange, he realized. He, of all people, should be the first one to recognize this young man's name. Where the world recognized Hercule, didn't Hercule owe it to Gohan to recognize him in turn?

The man let out a long sigh as he sunk into his favorite armchair.

He could never be sure what Gohan thought of him. They had almost always interacted in front of Videl, and Videl had always made sure her father was on his best behavior. As if he would do anything else in front of the boy who could probably kill him by blinking.

Well, he couldn't blame her for thinking the way she did. He hasn't exactly given her any reason not to before he had known who the boy was, and even after he learned, he still was full of protective bravado. How could he let his little girl run off with these mysterious flying supermen and get into all kinds of danger?

The real point, though, was that Gohan and Hercule just hadn't been alone that often. Of course a polite boy like Gohan (despite all his initial claims, he couldn't spend even a minute of time with the boy without seeing, if nothing else, he had damn fine manners) would act like that in front of his girlfriend's father, no matter who he was. It was that kind of attitude that had helped Hercule ease into the idea of their dating, way back when. The young man man was nothing like all the punks who had tried for his daughter before, and even an overprotective man like Hercule recognized a good match when he saw one.

Didn't stop him from giving the boy hell initially (at least in his own terrified cautious way), but he'd long since stopped that after getting to know him a little better.

That was another reason he called Gohan over here, come to think of it. He had never really given the couple his official blessing, at least not to Gohan, and it was long overdue. Sure, he'd told the press he was thrilled his daughter had found a match in the son of the former champ, sure he had made all kinds of comments, but how could he have overlooked the most important person here?

Well, second most important, Hercule reasoned as he caught a glimpse of the family portrait on the wall, his smiling mug looking back at him confidently. That guy wasn't number one though. Not today. He looked lower, to the girl sitting between himself and the woman she looked so much like.

Videl always came first. Always.

"Mr. Satan, your guest has arrived."

Hercule shot a glance at his intercom, sitting on the stand next to his armchair. The digital clock next to it showed him that it was exactly when Hercule had asked Gohan to arrive. As he told the servant on the other line to send the young man in, he couldn't help but be amused despite his nervousness.

With that boy's abilities, he could have been here whenever he wanted, yet he made it a point to show up exactly on time. Scary as his parents were (mostly, surprisingly, his mother), they had done a fine job on the boy. As a parent as well as a man who had taught more children than he could remember over the years, he could tell that much.

His stomach did a backflip as there was a gentle knock at the door. It wasn't the knock of someone who was scared, but it wasn't a demanding knock either. He knew who was there.

It was time.

Hercule stood, putting on his bravest face, and pushed aside his feelings. He had a mission today, and for once, no stomachache would get in his way.

"Gohan m'boy! You're right on time!" Hercule looked over Gohan appraising my as he opened the large mahogany doors to let the boy enter his study. He stepped back to let him enter, taking in his appearance as the studious half-human (something Hercule could hardly complain about considering his best friend Majin Buu) looked over at the various pieces of art Hercule had been given over the years for his "achievements."

Tall and well built, spiky hair like his father's, there he stood. He was dressed in formal clothing, something Hercule took note of. Despite how they saw each other more and more lately, despite their history, the young man seemed to care more that he had been personally asked to talk to his wife-to-be's father and just wanted to make a good impression.

Little did he know that it would be pretty darn hard to top the impression Hercule had built up of the boy over the past few months.

Or so he thought.

"Hello, sir. It's nice to see you again," Gohan's words were honest, and he wore a friendly smile that didn't hint at the slightest negativity, even though Hercule was sure the boy held some towards him. He had to! "A-Are you ready for tomorrow?"

At the moment, though, all he appeared to be holding towards Hercule was his hand, a nervous smile on his face. It was no secret that Hercule was incredibly protective of his daughter, after all, and this was a fact Gohan had learned the hard way.

Hercule found his stomach pains fading somewhat as he gave the boy a firm handshake (unlike his father, Gohan held restraint and didn't squeeze so hard it out him in a cast; it was a good, manly handshake), realizing this was a good chance. He offered the boy a grin, hoping it looked friendly enough. He was so used to wide, boastful grins that it felt like he had last used subtler expressions in another life altogether.

"Me? You shouldn't be thinking about me!" Hercule let out a laugh in the hopes it would help lighten the mood, as it was something that usually worked, before giving Gohan a hearty pat on the shoulder. "You're the one getting hitched tomorrow. How are you?"

Gohan seemed to be surprised from Hercule's reaction. Well, Hercule couldn't blame him. Knowing himself as well as he did, he wouldn't be surprised if Gohan had come here expecting to be lectured and put through the ringer all over again, like he had been when Videl had declared they were getting married whether Hercule liked it or not.

Incidentally, Hercule had learned that he did.

"M-Me?" Gohan stammered, raising his hand to scratch behind his head nervously. The kid was the spitting image of his father, he really was.

Hercule let out another hearty laugh, though this one was much more genuine. No matter how strong this poor boy was, he had an inkling that his daughter would still be the one calling the shots. Heaven help him.

"That's right, you! You think the champ can't care about his one and only future son-in-law?"

Hercule had made an effort throughout most of his relationship with the young man to never refer to himself as "the champ" when in his presence... Which, needless to say, had felt like an impossible task once the press got involved.

This time though, Hercule had done the exact opposite. He had dropped that title on purpose, hoping to catch Gohan off guard and see if he could get some kind of reaction out of him. He just had to know where he stood! How bad was it? He needed to know!

To his surprise, Gohan didn't even seem to notice. In fact, while the boy was smiling shyly at him, that hand still on the back of his neck, the nervousness Hercule felt from him had decreased substantially.

"A-Aww shucks, you mean it? I'm honored," Gohan laughed, as if he was joining in on Hercule's jovial mood, but Hercule couldn't find a laugh in him at that moment as he processed the young man's words.

It occurred to the man that this was the first time he had admitted to the boy that he cared about him. It wasn't a lie, either. While a great deal of it was because of how he made Videl so happy... Darn it all, Hercule had really come to like the boy over the past few years.

It seemed like Hercule's fears really had been for nothing. The boy truly seemed to harbor no ill will towards him (Hercule had discovered through an embarrassing chain of events that, polite as he was, Gohan was an awful, awful liar) and was just relieved to find out that the man was welcoming him into the Satan family.

Maybe now was a good time to bring up his present?

Briefly, Hercule considered not giving it to him. That part of him that thrived off of undeserved attention told him that this had gone great. Gohan clearly liked him fine, they could have a drink, Hercule could officially give Gohan his blessing, then send the boy on his way. No need to be drastic.

After a look at Gohan's kind, trusting expression, he sighed and told that part of him to buzz off. He couldn't go through with this thing tomorrow without giving Gohan something.

"There's a reason I asked you to come here though..." Hercule started, his expression growing somewhat serious as he began walking back into the inner parts of his oversized study. He couldn't see Gohan anymore, but he could tell the young man was dutifully following after him. "Sit down, my boy. I've got a gift for you. I just can't let you marry my girl before you have this. Wouldn't sit right with me..."

As Hercule waited for Gohan to get comfortable on one of Hercule's many pieces of luxury furniture, the man inhaled deeply. His gift wasn't much, he felt, not after all the young man had done for the world, but.., he didn't know what else he could do.

He turned. He had stood before audiences many times before, but this time was different. No boasts, no poses, no laughs. Just him and the young man who was to marry his daughter.

The two looked at each other for a few moments. Gohan was clearly confused now, unsure if he had done something wrong, if this "gift" was going to spell trouble, if that earlier kindness had been a front, among many other things. If he couldn't marry Videl before he received whatever this was, it must be something serious. Meanwhile, Hercule had an uncharacteristically solemn expression on his face, which just made Gohan even more worried.

A few more silent moments passed between the two.

And then, finally, Hercule bowed his head. He bowed it low.

"I... I know this is long overdue, but..."

Hercule clenched his eyes shut.

"I'm so sorry!"

He couldn't see the boy's reaction, but at that moment, he didn't want to. He needed to get this off his chest. He needed Gohan to know.

No excuses. No "well it's not like anyone stood up and said I was lying" or any other excuses like he always used to tell himself. Just the truth.

Family deserved that.

"I lied to the whole word, and there's no way I can excuse that. You sure as heck shouldn't. You were just a boy, and you even lost your dad that day... And there I was, calling all of you names and taking credit for everything! How can you stand to be in the same room as me, I don't know... If you can't forgive me, if you even hate me, I... I understand! I wouldn't forgive me! Heck, I haven't forgiven me!"

Hercule paused, ignoring that at some point he'd begun to cry. Well, he was an overly emotional man according to his daughter, so that didn't surprise him. What did was that there was still no reaction. He wasn't sure how to take that.

He wasn't finished though, so it worked just as well. Bowing lower, he continued.

"But please! Please don't look badly on Videl because of her selfish old man! He just wanted to... No, no, there's no excuse for it! There's no-"

Hercule stopped mid sentence as he found a powerful hand being placed on his shoulder. There was no doubt who the hand belonged to, but he didn't dare look up. He just couldn't.

"How could I hate the man who brought the girl I'm about to marry into the world?"

Gohan spoke quietly, though not exactly gently. His voice was honest and sincere, though it gave away no traces of weakness.

"I've never hated you. Never. Hate's just too strong a word, and it's monsters like Cell that deserve it. Certainly not you."

Hercule swallowed as Gohan continued. He wanted to look up, but he wasn't sure if he should. He wasn't sure if he had the right.

"I mean... Yeah, I get frustrated by you sometimes, but not for the reasons you think." Gohan actually laughed. "Like when you couldn't understand Videl being able to fly and got mad at her for it... Or when she told you she was interested in me. Normal things that happen between two people."

Hearing this, Hercule finally raised his head to meet Gohan's gaze. To his complete and utter shock, he was being smiled at.

"I never wanted to be famous. I have everything I want already. All I wanted then was for the world to be safe again, so people wouldn't be scared or hurt anymore. I just wanted everything to go back to normal, and being famous would have done the complete opposite for me." Gohan gently lifted his hand and then lowered it again to pat Hercule on the shoulder. "You gave people a hero. You gave them hope. You gave them courage. You inspire people every day... Even if I do think you're a little too over the top a lot of the time."

Gohan shook his head, removing his hand from Hercule's shoulder and straightening himself up. He felt like maybe he had gotten too... too something there, so he offered the older man another sheepish grin.

"I, um, guess what I'm saying is that I don't have any problems with you. If you really want me to, I'll forgive you, but personally, I never felt like you wronged me in the first place."

Hercule was silent for a few moments, mulling over the young man's words. This... hero's words.

It was as if a weight heavier than everything Hercule had ever pulled, lifted, and broken all together had just been lifted off of him.

He didn't deserve that.

He had called Gohan out here to give him something, his apology, truly not intending to be forgiven, and instead he had been the one who had gotten something.

A damn fine son-in-law.

Without warning, much to Gohan's surprise, Hercule burst into loud, happy laughter that echoed in the enormous room and grabbed the boy, pulling him into a bear hug.

"Bwahahaha! That's my boy! Ahahaha! Welcome to the family, son! Good to have you!"

Despite the sudden change in mood, Gohan grinned back.

"Good to be here."


End file.
